LOKÉ, The Journal of Making- On Material

Bound up in the narratives around access, production, economics, and the environment, the transformational capabilities of material can shift between social and formal considerations. Material can enable inclusion, by making space for different experiences that acknowledge diversity, be it within the realms of branding, retail, fine dining, fashion, art, architecture, or charity. Affecting both the group and the individual, the manipulation of materials can register labor, or more simply, the hand.

By looking more closely at how a material lives and dies, what was once understood as waste is now useful, ever-cycling matter for creating anew. Reconsidering how to make use of materials in their raw or lightly-processed formats has value for both the planet and society more broadly.

Beyond this, decontexualizing a material can begin to transform how it is understood, whether it is a root vegetable becoming gourmet cuisine or vertical blinds becoming walls. Similarly, when one material mimics another, it can create a disorienting, sensual displacement.

With these ideas in mind, in this issue of LOKÉ we begin to explore some of the diverse roles that material can play in the various spaces of cultural production.